That is absolutely incredible, what is the time frame of these shots between the first and last when the jet switches off? i have never seen anything like that before,

I wish just once someone at NASA will get some testosterone and say for once it is not a natural occurance, one thing that does bother me however, why is there not a reaction to the jet? the object stays still while ejecting whatever it is but stays put shouldn't there be an opposite reaction that pushes it away?

It puzzles me always that something so fantastic is seen but they shrove it off like it is nothing.

Nice find

Wow! Those are amazing!
I really wish that nasa, The Gov. and who ever else who knows
whats really going on lets everyone in on it.
We all live here and have the right to know.

is the first image flipped 180degs?

looks like the two white spots in the background, whatever they are, are always above the plasma source in the lower pics. at first i thought this showed some kind of movement, but now i just think the image if flipped.

and if it is emitting a plasma jet, why is in not moving?

just curious. interesting stuff.

no, strike that.

looks like either the object or cassini did move in relation to those two light sources.

Originally posted by internos
Another interesting find by Mike. I've made an animation with the pics:

Wow Internos! I knew you would come up with an animation considering that these are consecutive images. It now looks like the object has switched on its 'plasma thrusters', accelerating towards the bottom of the image!!

I wonder what the heck's going on out there near the rings of Saturn??

Cheers! We may not be alone after all!

Hmmmn!,
It is not shooting at the object, but is fact "gettin the heck out of there!"
Excellent stuff Mike and Internos, flagged and starred and back slapped!
Should we be worried?
H

Mike, the only reason I opened with thread was because your name was on it, and I, as usual, was not disappointed. May I suggest next time not using the word "plasma" in your thread topic. haha.

Anyway, S + F.

Internos, amazing stuff as always. Even if someone can explain this with a natural phenom, it is still a beautiful series of events.

Ok, well I'm pretty clueless as to what this could be so I guess this is just a shout out post. But thanks for the visuals.

EDIT: Is it just me or does the blast of the object actually shift the camera downwards oh so slightly?

[edit on 3/5/08 by SantaClaus]

I'm literally giddy with that one internos. Save it and put it on a copy-protected disk.

I seriously said aloud, "are you kidding me?"

Awesome work.

That's kinda' neat. I wish at least one of the images posted actually showed the image emitting the "jet". None of them conclusively show that happening. It sure looks like it might be, but can we be positive?

Heh, just looked at internos' full animation. I think my question may have been answered. It sure does appear to be a jet of some kind from an unknown object.

I'm curious as to how the camera appeared to change inclination? Was the craft adjusting it's position during this sequence? What would the odds be of an adjustment thruster firing and appearing to be emanating from a reflection?

Astronomical I imagine.....

Great stuff, Mike.

IMO, the jet seems like an optical artifact. As the object moves out of the camera's view, the light it emits gets blocked off and focused into a single ray thus creating the illusion of a jet stream. Kinda reminds me of a time lapse video of a sunrise/sunset.

What is that object in the pic anyway?

[edit on 5-3-2008 by d2che]

Originally posted by d2che
the light it emits gets blocked off and focused into a single ray

Yeah, but it has that odd diffused look to it, that none of the other reflections appear to have. And I kind of would expect the smaller, neighbor object to create the same artifact, albeit smaller and fainter; but it doesn't appear to.

I tend to lean towards mundane, mechanical explanations for these kind of things myself....but can't really develop a solid idea of how this could have been created by environment or camera position.

[edit on 5-3-2008 by MrPenny]

As an amateur photographer myself, couldn't the radiation of light be explained by the "spitting" nature of this object?

It literally "blows" something out of it. The best I can describe is spit, because of the length and varying size of the particles.

The rate of dispersal indicates, to me at least, that the source of the jet is very close to the craft and it appears to be focussed at a point beyond which it disperses.

What does a hydrazine thruster emission look like under those lighting conditions?

.... Nice post Mike! and Internos! .....helluva job on the animation! If my arms could reach, I pat you both on the back right now. stars and flags for everyone!. seriously though, very intriguing post as always Mike.

spikeD.